Lockable key ring



g- M. c. GARDINE 1,817,246

LOCKABLE KEY RING Filed Aug. 15, 1927 Manuel C. Gare/i126 Fatented Aug.4, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MANIlEL C. GARDINE, OF ST. LOUIS,MISSOURI LOCKAIBLE KEY RING Application filed August 13, 1927. SerialNo. 212,790.

I obtain this object by means shown in the drawings and now to bedescribed.

Figure 1 'is'a side elevationof a key ring embodying my invention; Fig.2 is a side elevation of the incomplete ring at an intermediate stage ofits manufacture; Fig. 3 is a top view of the same ring and Fig. 4 is agreatly enlarged vertical section through the key ring taken on the line4-4 of Fig. 1. Similar reference numerals designate like parts in allthe views.

The body of thering will preferably be made of round or oval steel wireof. suitable gauge.

The steps of forming the ring are substantially as follows: A wire rodof suitable length, varying according to the size of the ring which isto be made, will bebent to the approximate form shown in Fig. 2; anarched member or hook 5 willbe formed at. one end of the rod andacomplemental arched member or hook 6 will be formed at the other end ofthe rod. The hook 5 will then be swagedby any suitable means to form afiat upper surface 5a.;

and similarly the hook 6 will be swaged to form a fiat under surface 6a.The rod will then be again bent to form a complete circular ring, asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 and when that is accomplished thefaces 5a and 6a will lie in close contact'with each other and theover-lapping hooks will form a closed loop designated as a whole thenumeral 7. 3

I have shown and described a keyring made from a round -rod,"'but itisobvious that rods of oval or polygonal cross-section detaching of thekeys.

may be used without departure from my invention.

The arched members 5 and 6 are approximately half the thickness of therod from which they are formed; the member 5 has a flat face 5a and aterminal part 5?) which extends outwardly somewhat beyond the arch ofthe member 6; and the member 6 has a terminal part 6?) which extendsoutwardly somewhat beyond the arch of the member 5. \Vhen the archedmembers are associated as indicated in Fig. 2 the overlapping parts willlie in the plane of the ring and wholly within the inner circle of thering.

When the ring is completed the keys will ner. The hasp of a lock 8 ofany approved construction may be hooked in the loop formed by thejuxtaposed hook-members and may be locked to prevent unauthorized It isobvious that a lockable clasp of any suitable known construction may beused instead of the padlock shown in the drawings. A snap hook on theend of a key chain will serve to prevent removal of any keys from thering so long as the key ring remains attached to the chain.

To isolate any particular key; the loop of the key will be placed in theloop 7 of the ring in the following manner:

The body of the key will be held in one hand and the body of the ringwill beheld in the other hand. The handle of the key will be placed onone terminal, say the terminal 5?), with the terminal extending throughthe loop or eye in the handle of the key, and will be pushed along themember 5?) which supports it, until the handle of the key turns aroundthe terminal 6b so that the loop of the key surrounds both the lappedlower or inner members of both arches.

Having fully described my invention,

mental inner loop consisting 55 ments outer loop what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a key holder, the combination of: a resilient main outer loop; anda suppleof a pair of hooks having lengthenedlimb elements, oppositelyfaced, reduced in thickness, and flattened on adjacent surfaces; saidlimb elements being overlapped, each with its respective end extendedbeyond the arch of the other hook, and being held in juxtaposition bythe resiliency of the main loop, and adapted to be sprung apart in adirection perpendicular to the plane of the loops, but notcircumferentially, to allow the passage of a free key into thesupplemental loop, and likewise adapted to be sprung apart to allow thepassage of a key from one loop to the other; whereby a selected key canbe quickly and securely isolated on the supplemental loop or associatedwith other keys on the main loop as desired.

2. A lockable key ring of smooth exterior contour, consisting of a mainring of resilient wire closed by overlapping a pair of inwardly turned,integral, arch members of reduced thickness, to form an inner loop oftotal thickness nowhere greater than the thickness of the main ring;each of said arch members comprising a shank portion of reducedthickness extending forwardly in direct continuationof the body of themain ring, an arch portion curving inwardly, and a terminal limb portionextending backwardly and protruding beyond the bend of the other archmember.

3. In a key ring, the combination of: a solid outer loop; and a smallerinner loop comprising inwardly disposed U-shaped hooks withapproximately parallel limbs, overlapped at the limb portions and havingthe free end of the innermost limb portion of each hook extended beyondthe bend of the other hook, whereby to guide the handle of a key betweenthe lapped limbs of the inner loop.

4. A lockable key-holder comprising: a main ring formed from a solid rodbent in a plane; and a pair of overlapping open arch members oppositelydirected in said plane and flattened on adjacent sides throughout theextent of overlapping, thereby forming an inner loop; said arch membersconsisting of flattened stem elein forward continuation of the mainportion of said rod overlapped to close said main ring, bent elementsinwardly recurved and singly disposed, and limb elements eachoverlapping the other and each backwardly 60 extended beyond the bend ofthe other arch member, whereby the key-holder is adapted to be locked bya hasp linked with said ring through said loop.

5. In a key ring, in combination with an an inner loop formed by a pairof hook elements each comprising limbs and an arch, said inner loophaving two lapped portions consisting of the limbs of both.

